PSP Conference 2020 – Product Innovations and Startups from Potsdam

Science meets business, company meets investor. The annual, one-day PSP Conference is a high-tech innovation forum and a source of inspiration for new projects between research and industry. Experts from the research institutes of the Fraunhofer and Max Planck Societies, the University of Potsdam, companies and start-ups from the Potsdam Science Park will present pioneering technologies and sustainable solutions from the biotechnology, life science, health, nutrition, ICT, plastics and optics sectors. The conference is organized by Standortmanagement Golm GmbH and Potsdam Transfer, the central scientific institution for start-ups, innovation, knowledge and technology transfer at the University of Potsdam.

The program will be opened by Hendrik Fischer, State Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor and Energy of the State of Brandenburg, and Prof. Oliver Günther, Ph.D., President of the University of Potsdam.

State Secretary Fischer emphasises the importance of the PSP Conference as a forum for cross-sector dialogue – especially in view of the pandemic situation: “The current crisis in particular shows how important flexibility and inventiveness are for companies. Adaptability and interdependencies between industries enable companies to respond better to crisis situations. Locations such as the Potsdam Science Park contribute to this close networking.”

Prof. Oliver Günther illustrates the potential for innovation and growth through the University of Potsdam: “Entrepreneurial spirit implies a comprehensive competence to develop and implement ideas. We have been specifically promoting this competence among our lecturers and students for many years. This is one of the reasons why the University of Potsdam is widely visible and successful in the transfer of ideas from science to society, which has contributed significantly to the development of the Potsdam Science Park and will continue to do so.”

In the opening keynote, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Mark Stitt, Director of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, will speak under the motto “30 years of Potsdam-Golm – from greenfield to cutting-edge research” about the development of what is now the largest research location in Brandenburg, which he has been actively accompanying and shaping since December 2000. In the subsequent panel discussion with current and former actors of the Potsdam Science Park, the focus will be on the many years of experience and developments in the research focus of biotechnology in Potsdam-Golm.

Research successes and product innovations “made in Potsdam”

The one-day program also offers lectures on current patenting processes in various research fields and presents successes from collaborations between research and industry – from novel inline analysis technologies for industry to the wide range of applications for the polysaccharide starch to research on climate-friendly agriculture.

Six selected start-ups will present product innovations from the life science sector, as well as new LED systems for vertical farming, communication tools for better networking of construction sites and offices, and much more. A novelty of this year’s PSP Conference 2020: The audience will present the pitch award for the best-positioned start-up in a joint voting.

In the virtual exhibition area, in live presentations and thematic discussion rooms, participating companies, start-ups and scientists can enter into direct exchange with interested conference participants.

The chances of finding suitable cooperation partners at the interactive PSP Conference on November 13 are favorable: “We would like to invite investors who are particularly interested in innovation to familiarize themselves with the new approaches from the research institutes and the topics of the founders from the environment of the Potsdam Science Park,” emphasizes Agnes von Matuschka, Managing Director of Standortmanagement Golm GmbH in the Potsdam Science Park, “The PSP Conference is a showcase for the scientific and technological innovations in the Science Park. We want to make these visible and accessible to potential partners at home and abroad regionally and nationally and on this basis drive forward a dynamic further development and profiling of the location.”

www.psp-conference.de

About the PSP Conference

The PSP Conference 2020 is an event organized by Standortmanagement Golm GmbH (co-financed by the European Union with ERDF funds) in cooperation with Potsdam Transfer (University of Potsdam) and in cooperation with the Fraunhofer High Performance Center for Functional Integration, the Brandenburg Economic Development Corporation (WFBB), the HealthCapital Berlin-Brandenburg Cluster, the Potsdam Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the City of Potsdam.

This programme is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the State of Brandenburg.